A Different Tale
by OnkelJo
Summary: How would Castle and Beckett meet if things were different? Random arrangement of oneshot drabbles. Each chapter takes on a new AU prompt. Appetizer/Encouragement/Inspiration for the upcoming CastleFicathon 2014/15 and its AU theme. Now complete.
1. Partners In Crime

**As an appetizer for this winter's Castle ficathon (and possibly inspiration for some contestants), I've taken a few AU prompts from tumblr and am making one-shots out of them. Happy writing everyone :)**

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><p><strong>Prompt 1: Partners in Crime<strong>

It apparently was one of those nights again. One of those nights where bad luck followed him wherever he went. First, the lockpick broke. Then, the alarm had only been seconds away when he finally disabled it. At least the owners were away so no one heard him curse in pain when he stubbed his toe at the table in the dark.

"_Why am I doing this again?" _he half-heartedly thought as he rifled through the nightstand. "_Right. Greedy ex-wife." _Why he ever thought marrying Gina was a good idea escaped his thoughts every time he dared to think about.

Now, Rick Castle was back from retirement, and quite grumpy about it. He wasn't old per say, but with the years, it became clear that the stage didn't belong to the gentlemanly thieves of the old school anymore. He had had a nice retirement fund and a spotless reputation among his colleagues, so he was more happy to take his hat and settle down with his daughter, away from the violence his business was known for nowadays.

All that hard-earned money was gone now, courtesy of one caustic con woman known to him as Gina Cowell. Which surely wasn't her real name.

Before he could gripe any further about his 'ex-wife' however, a shadow slipped through the milky moonlight. Great, now he had to add meeting another thief to the list of things gone badly today. He whipped his head around, but whoever was in here with him had already melted into the darkness again. A fleeting smile slid over his face. Oh, they were good. And they didn't bother to pull a pipe over his head, for which he was already indefinitely grateful. Maybe things would turn out not to be as bad as he thought.

He stood up to his full height and slowly turned to where he believed the other intruder. "I assume you're here for the same thing as I am. So, why don't you come out of the shadows, and we can work things out like gentlemen, which I hope you are too?"

A hot breath at his neck made him jump. "I don't think I'm the gentleman you're looking for, but I'm sure we can work something out, anyway," a _very _feminine voice whispered in his ear.

He snapped around and found himself face to face with… a shadow. His face that had been scrunched up in anticipation fell a little at that. Her silhouette only revealed a slender build and short hair, but little more. She laughed softly at his facial expression, "_and what a beautiful laugh," _he thought, and turned on a dim lamp on the nightstand. Castle drank in her features; her eyes, her nose… her lips… and back to the eyes. Had she been wearing heels, they would stand eye to eye; as she was wearing flat shoes, all it would take for him was to dip his head and…

"_Bad brain!" _he chastised himself as soon as his brain went there, but to no avail. He felt the heat rise up his neck, stopping just above his ears. She knew exactly what had been going on in his head, but to his surprise, she seemed more amused than anything else about it.

"I think it's a little early for these kinds of thoughts, Mr. Castle," she told him with a smirk.

"I assure you, that's not... wait, how do you know my name?" he asked her with his mouth hanging agape.

The mysterious woman rolled her eyes at his blatant try to cover up what had really gone on in his head. "Do you think Caine talks about anything other than his former star pupil retiring before him? It's really nagging the old man. He says, for all the trouble you've brought, you could have at least set up another date with your mother before vanishing," she told him with raised eyebrows.

A fond smile creeped up on Castle when he remembered the old man who had taken him under his wings all those years ago. "Puh-lease. As if I were ever crazy enough to do that. Do you know how weird it would be for my mother and my mentor to be together?" That elicited a laugh out of the woman in front of him, and for whatever reason, he wanted to do it again. "But say, I'm at a disadvantage here. I don't know your name."

Barely concealed mirth played around her eyes when she answered. "You can call me Kate."

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><p><strong>Sooo... what do you think? :)<strong>


	2. Human And Android

**I thought I could update sooner, but then my body thought it would be a good idea to give me the mother of all headaches. Anyway, here's another chapter :)  
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><p><strong>Prompt 2: Android And Human<strong>

"Doctor Beckett, do you really think it's wise to wake him up?"

The brunette shrugged off the guard's hand on her forearm, getting more and more irritated. "Of course I am, _Mister _Ryan," she replied coolly. "Otherwise I wouldn't activate _it_, would I?"

Kevin Ryan nodded his head dejectedly and slinked off to his usual corner of the room. Seeing his look, the scientist held him back. "I didn't mean to sound so harsh. Years of work are culminating in this moment. My irritation has nothing to do with your abilities as a guard… or as a friend."

She offered him a tight smile that he mirrored before resuming his path, but with his head held a little bit higher.

Kate Beckett stepped forward toward the console in the middle of the sterile room. _This is it, _she thought. She raised her eyes to the lifeless construct on the metal slab before her and took a deep breath. The biggest breakthrough in the history of artificial intelligence research was only the press of a button away. Her hand was shaking when she raised it, which didn't surprise her. She was terrified.

"Starting boot sequence now," she said out loud with more confidence than she felt and pressed the glowing red button. The lights in the room went dark and began pulsing red a second later.

Her eyes grew wide and she began cursing under her breath as she ran to the emergency off switch and hit it. "No. No, no, no. Not today." She slipped her phone out of her lab coat's pocket and began punching in numbers.

"Yes, director, it's me. Yes, I'm aware I'm supposed to be conducting a test run right now. No, it didn't even get to that. There has been a power surge in _doctor _Sorenson's lab. _Again._ Congratulations, _director Sherlock_, it is indeed very much possible that the two occurrences are connected. Ugh, just tell them "I told you so!""

With a huff, she shoved the phone shut again and leaned her forehead against the cool metal on the wall.

"Is there a problem, Kate?"

She whirled around in shock. Before her stood her project, Runtime-based Intelligent Computing Cyber-Human; short: R.I.C.C., or just Rick. _Alive_. As in, standing in front of her. Away from the table where it was supposed to be lying right now. Ryan was slumped on the floor, probably fainted at the sight of him waking up.

"My sensors suggest you're close to a panic attack. How may I help you, Kate?"

_Lay on the table and play dead, as you're supposed to,_ she almost said. "How come you're standing right here?"

He scrunched his nose, as if he were in thought. "One moment please… according to my diagnostics, the power surge in the laboratory of the human designated 'Sorenson' jump-started my power core, leading to my activation."

Kate turned around again and started softly banging her head against the wall in exasperation. Why did it always hit her experiments? Why couldn't she sabotage Sorenson's stuff once in a while? Life wasn't fair. She froze when she felt its hand on her shoulder.

"But... it felt like more than that. According to blueprints and software schematics, I'm supposed to be a simple robot built from elastic polymers and titanium alloys. Which is absolutely fine but kind of contradicts the 'simple' part - and apparently this unit has a knack for rambling."

She had to laugh at that despite her mood. This was so not what she had planned, and if she were ever questioned about what happened that day, she would never admit that his creation had been an accident, but she decided she would totally take credit for it. A self-aware artificial intelligence was an even bigger breakthrough than she had hoped for, but she was a little terrified (but only a little) to be the first human to talk to one. Sort of a 'First Contact', if you will. "_And it may be time to think of RICC as a 'him', not an 'it'"_, she thought.

"It's okay. So, do you want to choose a name for yourself?" she asked.

He shrugged, which was a surprisingly human gesture, she observed. "I rather like the name I already have. Rick has a nice ring to it. Riiiick. Rrrrrick. Richard? Ouh, I know, Rick Castle! Almost sounds like 'rich asshole' - did I mention that I am partial to bad puns?"

Her mouth hung open wide before she shut it loudly. Then she realized he already knew his name. "Wait, how do you know that name? You woke up just now!"

"I gained control over this body just now, but my mind was already awake for a little while... You look pale, Kate. Can I interest you in a grande skim latte with two pumps sugar-free vanilla?"

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><p><strong>Oh, and if you find the ending a little 'unsatisfying'... that's intentional :P feel free to continue writing ;)<br>**


	3. Sharing A Flat

**Prompt 3: Sharing A Flat**

He didn't bother to turn around from washing the dishes when he heard a key turn in the lock. Beckett was the only other person with a key.

"Hey, Beckett. How was work?" he asked, still with his back turned. A small smile flit over his face when she let out an exasperated huff before collapsing on their couch.

"Ugh, how do you think it was, Castle? I swear, those little rascals are the spawn of the devil," she groaned. He loved riling Kate up with her job. It also helped him unwind after a day filled with criminals and other scum that roamed the streets.

"Come on. The new recruits can't be _that _bad," he brought out as he put down a dish and turned around, his grin safely tucked away behind a facade of fake pity.

"One managed to hit the alarm bell with a bullet on the shooting range today, can you imagine that? Sometimes I think whatever they have to contribute to the force ain't worth the headache and the paperwork they're causing me."

A barked laughter slipped past his mask as he finally made his way over to her. "I'm sure you'll manage. Besides, it's not that hard to imagine... I would be distracted, too, if I had a drill sergeant like you," he quipped with a smirk as he dropped an iced beer bottle in her lap. She caught it without even looking, like always, and it amazed him every time.

"Oh, shut up. They're so bad, I'd be amazed if they can pee straight," she snorted in contempt.

"Aw, now you're just mean. After all, it's your job to... 'make men out of them'."

Now he couldn't hide his glee at his more than blatant double meaning anymore. He wished he had a pair of sunglasses for the special occasion. Or maybe, _pun _glasses?

Kate pretended to dry heave. "I think my lady parts just died a little inside at that thought. _Never _make such a joke again," she threatened with a glare and a beer bottle pointed at him.

"But, seriously. Is the whole batch a grab down into the sewer?"

The brunette narrowed her eyes at the wall in thought. "Nah. Two aren't half bad. One's hispanic; macho through and through, and the other, Irish by the way, might as well be fixated on honeymilk or something, but they are constantly on top of everything... Shut up," she added when she saw Castle's smirk. "They bunk together and will make good agents one day."

If possible, his grin grew even wider. "I think you've missed out on a lot of important biology classes if you think that's possible."

It took her a moment to realize that he twisted her words into a sexual innuendo again. Then he had to duck the pillow that was flying at his head.

"Remind me me why I decided to share a flat with my boss again?" she huffed.

"Okay, first of all, I'm not your boss. I'm COO and you're the head of security. Given our business, this makes us more like equal partners. And second, how could anyone withstand my dashing good looks and a great loft?"

This only made her snort. "More like, some nutjob blew up my apartment and in a rare moment of humanity, you offered me a place to crash," Beckett digged.

"Please don't take that literally," he shot back with ease. "You have a knack for making things go boom, and while I love that in a woman, this loft is worth some sunny ten million bucks, so if you could just refrain from literally crashing the place, that'd be great. And that nutjob is safely tucked behind bars, so no bombs under your place… okay that one is because you don't have a place anymore, and the one place you do have, has no bomb under it… anymore, because it already expl… yeah, I'll stop talking now."

He abruptly motioned to the kitchen and fled from the scathing glare that only Beckett could throw.

"I'm gonna change," she yelled in his direction before taking off to the... walk-in wardrobe…

_Oh shit. I haven't put everything back yet._

He vaulted back over the kitchen counter and sprinted after her, only to stumble and fall through the door, landing in her side of the wardrobe and crashing the wall behind it.

"Castle? Everything okay?" Kate said and came running.

He was lying in a pile of wood (from the door and the wardrobe walls), her lingerie (which he didn't really mind), and two sets of leather armor, complete with bows and quivers (which he minded very much).

_Wait, two?_

"Castle, what are you doing? What is this?"

Castle only realized now that only one of the sets belonged to him… and that the other was shaped very feminine?

He held both suits up and sought her eyes before they both started speaking simultaneously. "Are you a vigilante?"


	4. Agents of CASTLE

**Mini-Crossover with Agents Of SHIELD... Not really a tumblr prompt, but I just couldn't help myself once I saw the photo Clark Gregg posted on Facebook with him and Nathan. And as you can see, I got carried away a wee bit *cough* No direct spoilers (it's completely off-canon-continuity for "Agents Of SHIELD") and knowledge of the characters is not necessarily necessary, but having watched the Avengers couldn't hurt. And even that is completely optional, although the characters might seem a little pale. Heck, even googling the actors (or, even easier, consulting the AoS wiki) is more than enough. In any case, I present my final chapter before going into troglodyte mode for CastleFicathon :) Have fun!**

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><p><strong>Prompt 4: Agents Of Castle<strong>

Kate Beckett stepped closer to the leader of her S.H.I.E.L.D. strike team. "Agent Coulson, do you have a minute?"

The older agent shot her a sideways glance over the requisition orders May had him sign before smiling slightly. "Of course. Walk and talk? FitzSimmons need me in their lab."

He gave May the tablet back and started walking towards the staircase to the plane's lab, not waiting for the specialist on his team to catch up with him. Beckett fell into step behind her boss and handed him a manila folder.

"The old files you had me look into? Turns out, the whole thing is a gigantic map. HYDRA was looking for it back in the days of Red Skull, but they never found it. With Skye's help I could pinpoint the exact location, it's half an hour flight away."

Coulson stopped in his tracks, and Beckett recognized the gleam in his eyes when he turned around.

"Then what are you waiting for? Go tell May to head there!" he told her with a grin.

"Already took the liberty to do so, that's why we're only half an hour out," she quipped with a smirk.

Coulson shot her a mock glare. "Careful, _Agent _Beckett. The 'Bus' is still my baby. Don't overstep your boundaries with ordering it to turn around."

The younger agent raised her eyebrows. "First of all, don't you think 'Lola' will get jealous? And secondly, _I _didn't order _anything_. I just gave May the coordinates. What do you think that 'requisition order' you just signed was for?"

Now the glare was a little less amused. Coulson brought his hand to his ear and activated the comms. "Mel, did you have me sign a false requisition order?"

You could hear the asian pilot smirking. "Did I use the wrong header again? Oops. My bad," May deadpanned without the slightest tinge of regret in her voice.

Coulson seemed to think about what he heard for a moment before heading for the labs again. "Huh. I really should start reading these damn things," Beckett could hear him mutter on his way downstairs.

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><p><em>About half an hour later…<em>

The team was assembled in the lab on the 'Bus', all gathered around the big table in the middle.

"Okay, Beckett. Walk us through it again," Coulson told his specialist.

"I'm not exactly comfortable with only doing this with this strike team, but as Hydra is still hot on our heels, we can't afford to tip them off by bringing more agents here. At least the ICER guns should stop anything short of an Asgardian."

Coulson smirked slightly. "Noted, Beckett. Now walk us through it, please?"

"We need Skye to access the portal. Her blood should unlock the seal. According to the old files Hydra had on this, the portal is supposed to transport powerful beings to the place."

May raised her voice as she picked up an ICER and left the lab. "You heard her. Take an ICER with you and go to your positions."

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><p>Not long after that, everyone was watching Skye and Kate climbing the few stairs to the pedestal that throned over the massive construction.<p>

The specialist laid her hand on Skye's shoulders. "You ready?"

The young tech savant let out a deep breath. "As ready as I ever will be."

She hissed as she pulled her knife across her left thumb and pressed the wounded digit into the indentation on the pedestal. A dark humming sound resounded in the underground construction and the pedestal in front of them started glowing brightly.

Beckett led a perplexed Skye away from it and pulled her gun, just in case whatever came through that portal wasn't as friendly as she'd hoped. They'd need every advantage they could get in the fight to come, but she wasn't going to let that endanger her team. If it was hostile, it'd be her job to put down the threat.

The bright glow exploded in a ball of light, like a miniature sun. Both Beckett and Skye threw themselves on the ground and had to cover their eyes, but even so, the pain was almost unbearable.

Then, in an instant, the ball of light collapsed and vanished with a boom that echoed throughout the whole complex. The younger woman got up first, and walked straight up the stairs on wobbly feet, causing Beckett to run after her with a few curses on her lips, her own walk not really stable.

To the surprise of everyone, there was just a single man lying on the floor where the pedestal had been. Skye kneeled beside him and tried to wake him up.

"Don't. We don't know if he will be hostile when he wakes up. Coulson will have my head if something happens to you," Beckett told her with a weak smile and tried to pull her away.

Skye however was having none of that. She shook the specialist off her without even wasting a single glance on her. Instead she started giving him CPR, which in turn made the two scientists, Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons, come out of their hideout and cautiously make their way to the two women on the platform.

"He won't be hostile," Skye ground out while compressing the stranger's chest repeatedly. "I can feel it."

They all knew Skye was special but… "We can't just blow caution in the wind just because of your gut feeling, Skye. That's why we have procedures for situations like these."

Now she turned around her head and gave Kate a scathing glare without stopping to tend to the man. "It is _not _a gut feeling, Kate! I mean, I can actively feel him… that came out wrong, didn't it?"

That broke the tense mood and made Kate snicker a little. "Yeah, kind of."

Only now did she take the time to look at what the portal spat out. The man was easy on the eyes, in a ruggedly handsome way… and why did she just describe him as ruggedly handsome?

Before she could answer herself, his eyelashes started fluttering. With a groan, he sat up and started coughing, startling Skye who had still been focussed on giving him CPR, and made her let out a yelp.

"I don't think I'm in paradise yet… not enough women," he muttered with a wry smile.

Then he took in the sight of the two beauties in front of him and let his eyes rest on Kate. "But the quality more than makes up for it."

She shifted uncomfortably under the scrutiny, but hid it under an annoyed mask. "Yeah, well, not gonna happen, hotshot. You're on Earth, Milky Way galaxy, Andromeda Nebula, also known as Midgard. We're on the brink of a planet-wide war and we need all the help we can get. We activated the pedestal in this structure in hope of gaining the aid of someone who can turn the tide in the coming war. Can you help us?"

Everyone was assembled around him and awaited his answer anxiously. Then he shrugged. "Very well. But first things first: Hi. I'm Crichard Ratchel… oh damn it, let's start again: Hi. I'm Richard Castle. Good to know that this universe's earth still exists, too. And I will do everything in my power to help you, guys, I…"

He stopped short for a second. "Wait a minute, before I pledge myself to your cause, you _are _the good guys, right? I would hate to realize too late I'm working for the nazis or something. That would totally _suck._"

Coulson and Beckett shared an incredulous look before Coulson spoke up. "Yes, we're the good guys. It's the year 2014, Nazi Germany has been defeated for almost seventy years now. We're agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., an organization sworn to protect the people from all evil, especially extraterrestrial and extradimensional threats. We're the first and the last shield of humanity."

Castle snickered. "S.H.I.E.L.D. is the last shield? That's precious. But... are you _the _S.H.I.E.L.D.? Working with Iron Man, Captain America, Black Widow, Thor and the other Avengers?"

Coulson raised an eyebrow. "Yes… how do you know that?"

Castle closed his eyes and bit down a little on his fist, effectively muffling his squeal of joy. "This. Is. _Awesome!"_

Then he pointed at their team leader. "That makes you Coulson, right? And you are May, there's FitzSimmons… where's Ward? The specialist?"

Beckett crossed her arms. "That'd be me. I'm the specialist on this team. Are you a clairvoyant?"

He waved her away. "Meh, you instead of Ward… that's six of one and half a dozen of another. Anyway, it seems as if Coulson is still prone to collect eye candy," he told her with a wink, to which she only rolled her eyes and gave him a dark look. "By which I don't mean to insinuate you can't take care of yourself… and I stop talking now," he quickly added when he saw her glare.

Coulson stepped forward to defuse the awkward situation. "The map that led us to this place spoke of unbelievable power to be unlocked. Do you have any idea how that might apply to you?"

In return, he only got a sheepish smile. "While I'm all for doing good and being heroic and all, I'm afraid I'm only a mystery writer." Upon seeing the fallen faces around him, he continued to babble. "But I'm very creative and crazy good with riddles. And given what stuff you guys work with, I'd say my crazy ideas might even come in handy. Or maybe…" his eyes lit up with glee at that, "maybe I received superpowers upon landing here!"

He looked Kate over head to toe before returning his gaze to her face with a bright smile. "Yep. I can see you naked."

Beckett raised her eyebrow a little. "Really? How do you like my navel ring?" she deadpanned.

Hearing his jaw clatter on the ground (or might as well have) and his eyes taking a glassy shine, she rolled her eyes and hauled him after her at his elbow, on her way to the brig after a silent conversation with Coulson.

Castle however smirked at her. "Ouh, kinky. My safeword is 'apples'... _Ow, APPLES!" _he yelped as her hand had wandered from his elbow to his ear.

Phil Coulson and Melinda May stood side by side with their arms crossed, following the two with their eyes, both sporting impassive expressions.

"How long do you give them?" Coulson asked.

"A week, tops," his pilot answered immediately.

Phil turned his head. "You think? So fast?" he asked incredulously.

A rare smile flitted over May's face and she nodded once. "Seven days before they jump each other's bones. I know true love when I see it."


End file.
